In response to a wash of negative user and media feedback, Digg is making a few key changes to the DiggBar, the company's URL shortening and Web page-framing service.

Within the next week Digg is turning off the DiggBar for all of its unregistered users, who will be sent directly to each site's main page without the DiggBar or a shortened link--just like it was before the DiggBar even existed. Additionally, for those who are registered with Digg, there will be an option to turn it back on or off on a permanent basis.

Despite the backlash, Digg's vice president of engineering continues to push that the DiggBar's done good things for both Digg and the sites it's linking to. In a company blog post on the upcoming changes, he notes that "roughly 45 percent of all Digging activity is now happening on the DiggBar," which means users are placing their votes off Digg's main site. Quinn also notes that a quarter of the users are using the DiggBar's related stories feature (which also appears on Digg's main site) along with a 10 percent increase in the number of shared, shortened DiggURLs.

Quinn also said that some of the things Digg has learned from the DiggBar will be put to use in the company's browser extensions, which means we could see the random Digg story link, and the number of page views a story has received inside of Digg's Firefox Toolbar.

About the author

Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
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